


What did you bury before those hands pulled me from the earth?

by buying_the_space_farm



Series: Like Real People Do [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Bog monster, Creature Fic, Kinda, M/M, Magic, Magical Realism, Magical Rituals, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Pining, Summer Court, THIS WILL GET UPDATED I PROMISE, The Fae, but they're still magical, fall court, inspired by a song, they're set in modern times okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:42:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23354134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buying_the_space_farm/pseuds/buying_the_space_farm
Summary: Fae creature Sheppard feels responsible for the bog monster McKay that he awoke when he went searching for lost treasure in backwater places.What, exactly, does it mean then that while he came up empty on treasures, McKay has started offering things to him for nothing in return?
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Shepard
Series: Like Real People Do [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679749
Comments: 24
Kudos: 52





	1. Wasteland, Baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i learned many things about bogs in the making of this fic and i dont regret it one bit  
> anyway, i was inspired to write this fic by the hozier song "like real people do" bc it said monster love rights and i decided to follow the call. Monster Love Rights Yall!!!!!!! monsters should be loved and find love and love each other. as you can see, im gay.  
> i did research but im no expert so dont quote me on my bog and plant facts. i have cursory knowledge. internet knowledge. its not perfect. be kind to your bogs friends.  
> yes the chapter titles are all gonna be taken from hozier songs, kill me if you must  
> anyway i now know about bog butter and i wanna eat some  
> edit: my stargate research was faulty and I didn't know vala was a different character from her... evil counterpart, thought they had the same name, so the evil summer queen is now qetesh!

“Aw, shit,” Sheppard muttered, staring at the humanoid thing that he had uncovered while he was sifting through the accumulation of peat that made up the top layer of the bog he was in.

Peat and moss covered the entire figure from head to foot, obscuring any details that may have made it identifiable at some point. It was curled loosely in a fetal position, hands seeming to cushion its head as if it had just fallen asleep.

He nudged it with his foot.

And then jumped about a mile in the air when it moved on its own, wings fluttering in the air as he watched it resettle into a smaller ball.

“What in the mound?” He muttered, feet touching back down on the ground.

He knelt and reached a trembling hand out towards the figure. He laid a hand on the general area that its shoulder was in and pushed it onto its back. 

“Leave me ‘lone,” the thing said, voice scratchy and deep.

“What the—” Sheppard yelped, shooting into the air again.

The figure flailed its arm in the air. “I’m _tired,_ I’m laying in a hole _for a reason,_ leave me alone.”

“Well, sorry for thinking no one would be out here in the middle of the night,” Sheppard said, settling on the ground a good distance away from the thing and putting his hands on his hips.

“I’ve been here far longer than a single night,” the figure said, sitting up and brushing peat and moss off of its face.

“Why are you even out here?” Sheppard asked, staring in growing disgust as the creature revealed red eyes that glowed in the darkness and bruised looking green skin under all the dirt.

“What do you _think_ I’m out here for?” The creature asked. “I live here.”

“In a _bog?”_ Sheppard asked, incredulous.

The creature dropped its hands in its lap and stared at him. “Where else would a mireman live?”

“Mireman?” Sheppard asked, confused.

“Marsh monster? Swamp Thing?” The creature said. “We prefer mireman or mirewoman though.”

“Mireman,” Sheppard said, incredulous, his stance losing some of its rigidity.

“Yes,” the mireman said. “Now might I ask _you_ what _you’re_ doing in my bog?”

“Uh. That’s— confidential,” Sheppard blustered.

“You’re part of the fae and you can’t lie. So don’t start trying to hurt yourself now.” Sheppard didn’t know if bog things had eyebrows but it looked like it was raising its equivalent. And he did have to admit that the lying thing was starting to make him feel like he needed to puke.

“Fine,” he said. “I was looking for treasure.”

The mireman started laughing. “The only thing you’ll find in this particular bog is some moss and maybe a few deposits of impure iron. But that’s it.”

Sheppard scowled. “Well. Some other fae found some treasure in a swamp recently, so I thought I’d try my hand at it.”

The mireman was still laughing, something leaking from its eyes. “Oh, that’s rich.” it leveled a look at him. “In trouble with a queen, are we?” Sheppard tried not to look to the side too obviously, but it caught him at it. “You are!”

“Fine, I am,” he snapped. “But it’s not like I could have done anything different from what I did.”

“Talked to a changeling you shouldn’t have?” The mireman asked. “Queen Qetesh never did like it when someone encroached on her little band of humans.”

Sheppard squinted at him. “You sure know a lot about fae court.”

The mireman recoiled. “No, I don’t, I just have a healthy respect for authority. A man could stand to be castrated in a place like that if he didn’t stay on his toes.”

Sheppard still stared at him suspiciously. “You look familiar.”

“I don’t know where you get that idea, I’ve never seen you in my life,” he babbled, scrabbling out of the hole and as far away from Sheppard as he could.

"No," Sheppard said, brow crinkling and lips pursing. "I know you from the court."

The mireman bit his lip and stared at him nervously.

"The alchemist!" Sheppard finally crowed after a moment of concentration. "You were the court alchemist before Carson. McKay, right?" He asked, before continuing. "What happened that you're out here?"

"Fine, yes, that's me," McKay snapped. "And as for why I'm out here, I'm sure you can guess— I pissed off Qetesh. One too many passes at her and she threw me out here to rot." He sniffed. "Thankfully for me, bogs are horrible places for decomposition. And I lived here before anyway, but there was no way I was going to tell her that."

Sheppard stared at him. "You tried to make a pass at the Summer Queen, who is like, 50 times more important than you."

"I never said they were good attempts," McKay muttered.

Sheppard nodded approvingly at him. "You've got balls, I have to admit. No brain to speak of it seems, but plenty of balls."

"Hey!" McKay yelled. "I'm a better alchemist on my worst day than Carson is on his best. His voodoo is nowhere as sophisticated as the science I refined alchemy to be."

"It's not voodoo, it's wizardry," Sheppard said, trying to disguise the laughter in his voice.

"Same thing. It's not science, is what I'm saying." McKay stood up and brushed himself off, but dirt and moss still clung to him, or maybe he was made of it? It was hard to tell this late at night.

"Now, seeing as you woke me from my sleep, the best you could do is feed me," McKay said, holding out his hand. "Nothing too base though, anything above a 7.5 on the pH scale and it'll throw off the whole bog."

"I have… some cheese?" Sheppard said, caving and rooting through his pack after a moment of McKay staring at him expectantly. He didn't know what base meant or what a pH scale was but cheese was good no matter what, right?

McKay inhaled sharply. "Oh, I haven't had cheese in so long," he said and stepped forward to grab it out of Sheppard's hand before he could blink. He was biting into it a millisecond later and the _sound_ that came out of him was _not_ appropriate for polite company, or for the situation in the first place.

“Do you have anything else?” He asked through the food in his mouth, half-masticated food showing behind black teeth. Sheppard was kinda disgusted.

“Uh,” he thought for a moment. “I might have some hardtack?”

“What are you doing with hardtack in this day and age?” McKay asked him, swallowing before he spoke this time. “Give it to me.”

Sheppard couldn’t help himself. He burst out laughing. “What have you been eating this entire time if you’re starving now?”

McKay stared at him mulishly. “Mostly moss, which let me tell you, is not filling at all. And then I slept for a long while. Now give me the hardtack. I’m gonna pass out from manly hunger soon.”

Sheppard took it out of his pack and handed it to him, shaking his head. “You’re like some sort of angry cat.”

“Oh, cats,” McKay said, voice slightly distorted as he gnawed on the hardtack, cheese abandoned in his other hand for now. “I love cats.”

“I hope you don’t mean to eat,” Sheppard said. Cats were special to him. They liked him when most other things didn’t.

“No, they make excellent assistants,” Mckay said. “I miss the cats I kept while I was the court alchemist. I hope Carson didn’t get rid of them.”

Given the massive allergy every other fae seemed to have to cats, he doubted that Carson had kept them. He pressed out a bland smile in reply to McKay’s unspoken question.

McKay continued to eat and talk and talk and eat until he was out of food, the entire wedge of cheese and cake of hardtack consumed. Sheppard mostly tuned him out to study him as much as he could in the starlight. Moss covered him from one shoulder to just under the other, shielding his chest from sight, but revealing a slight paunch when it broke off at the end of his ribs. More moss started covering him from just below his navel to just above his knees, which were somehow adorable for how knobby they were.

“Well, I guess you can leave now,” McKay said. “Thanks for the food but I really just want to go back to sleep now.”

Sheppard huffed out a single laugh. “Alright, then. I hope you sleep well.”

“So do I. Hopefully I won't have any more flyboys coming and waking me up for a few more weeks until spring really sets in.” McKay stepped away from him and sat back down in the hole he had been buried in.

“Flyboy?” Sheppard asked incredulously. “I am much more than a flyboy, thank you very much.” He crouched down to be on eye level with McKay. 

“You fly, you seem to be a boy, or a man or whatever you want to call yourself, and you are in the employ of Qetesh. You are a flyboy.” McKay closed his eyes and laid down on his side again, laying his hands under his head. 

Sheppard wanted to deny it, but he was right.

“Fine,” he said, placing his hands on his knees and using them to lever himself up. “Enjoy your beauty sleep.”

“I will,” McKay muttered, voice already slow in half-sleep. “There should be a sack full of gold buried some two kilometers north of here, in case you’re really in trouble.” This was all said so quietly that Sheppard almost didn’t catch it as he rose to flutter in the air.

He started, confused at the words, but took them at their face value. He cocked his head and considered McKay. He didn’t have a reason to lie, and he didn’t seem to have any malignant intent. Trusting him wouldn't be a bad choice.

He would take a dagger anyway.

* * *

The gold was there, in a half-rotted leather purse, enough to ease his way back into the graces of Qetesh. But given the way she had been acting lately, he didn’t know if she would be the Summer Queen for much longer, and buying his way back into a position of favor with her wouldn’t make for a very good introduction to their new Queen. He kept it instead, secreting it into his rooms and hid it in his quarters. It would come in handy soon, he knew that much.

* * *

He couldn’t stop thinking about McKay as the days grew closer to spring. He had woken him before he was completely ready to be awake— what if something went wrong? What if he didn’t wake up again? What if he didn’t wake up in time for whatever went on in a bog in spring?

He had some research to do.

He threw on a glamour and went to the local town’s library. They didn’t have many books on bogs, but they had a few on local wetland areas. And they had an entire book on whatever the hell pH was. Another glamour made it look like he had a library card and he took them home to read at his leisure. 

And since his leisure was basically anytime right now, they were soon read and done. He understood why now a bog needed to not be exposed to anything too basic— it would ruin the biome and things would likely deteriorate from there. Sheppard was strangely unwilling to let that happen to McKay’s bog.

He did more research, this time on the pH of certain foods and set it in mind that he would take some next time he saw McKay.

 _If_ he went to see McKay, he had to remind himself. There was no real reason to go.

Which was, of course, the entire reason that he stocked up on fish and carefully wrapped some of it in an oilskin to make sure it wouldn’t get everywhere in his pack when he went back to the bog the day after the Spring Equinox. 

Sheppard knew he was an idiot, but going to hang out with the alchemist that Qetesh had kicked out was a new low.

He landed near the spot that he had found McKay, only to find it excavated once more and sunken and empty. He carefully walked around a bit more, giving up after one too many times stepping in a thigh-deep “puddle”— if it could be called that anymore at that depth— and flew around in search of McKay instead. He found a patch of water that seemed to be bubbling randomly— something he hadn’t seen in any other part of the bog yet. He hovered over it until he got impatient and dropped one of the fish into the water.

A few seconds later, McKay came sputtering up, shaking water from his hair and clutching the fish to his chest. 

“What the fuck is a fish doing in my—” McKay started before suddenly seeing Sheppard. “What are you doing, specifically here?”

“I brought you food,” Sheppard said.

“You brought me fish and then dropped it on me, possibly upsetting the balance of the bog.”

“Fish and most other meats are actually pretty low on the pH scale!” Sheppard said happily.

McKay stared at him. “And how do you know this?” 

“I… borrowed a book from a library.”

“You did research on the pH scale,” McKay said flatly. “To. Bring me food?”

“Yeah,” Sheppard said, now nervous that maybe this hadn’t been the best course of action. “Is that— a bad thing?”

McKay cocked his head at him. “It’s just. Strange.” He paused. “No one has ever done that for me before.”

Sheppard shrugged. “I’m not most people, I guess.”

McKay stared at him again. “No, you’re not,” he finally said, and bit into the fish, scales and bones and all. He groaned in pleasure and Sheppard found himself blushing and looking away.

It was for the obvious reasons, yes, the noises McKay was making were inappropriate, but there was a pulse of pleasure in his chest at the fact that he was enjoying what he had brought him.

He wanted to bring more things for McKay to enjoy.

He reached into his pack before he could do anything to embarrass himself. “I also have some more bread if you want it,” he offered, holding it out.

McKay reached out with one hand for it, using the other to hold the fish out of the water. “Gimme,” he said, making a grabbing motion with his fingers.

Sheppard smiled and passed it to him. He drew his legs up till he was sitting cross-legged in the air and stared proudly at what his efforts had done. He was taking care of someone, something he hadn’t done in many years. His younger brother hadn’t needed much care before he was passed off as a changeling, and the human baby had been taken in by someone higher in court who wanted a plaything.

He was glad to be able to do something that wasn’t commanded by someone else.

McKay glanced up at him and saw his smile. “Is something wrong?” He asked.

Sheppard’s brows drew together and he cocked his head to the side. “No, why would there be?”

“You’re smiling like the cat that got the cream,” McKay said. “Did you do something, I don’t know, nefarious before you came here? Anyone I need to watch for in case they followed you?” 

Sheppard shook his head. “No, just— glad I could help.”

McKay hummed and took another bite of bread. “Whatever.”

Sheppard sighed and floated higher above the water, ready to take off if McKay didn’t want his company. He had thought they were getting along to some degree but— 

“Where do you think you’re going?” McKay asked, gathering both food items into one hand and stretching out to grab his ankle before he could go any higher. “I didn’t say to leave, I just. Said. Whatever, you know?” He let go and shrugged. “Doesn’t mean you need to leave.”

Sheppard sank lower, towards the water, and looked closer at McKay. There were lines at the corners of his eyes and he looked tired beneath all the dirt and muck. “Are you okay, Mckay?” He asked. “Do you— need something?”

“Nothing that you can get me,” he said softly, looking down. “It would take someone of my caliber in an alchemy lab to make what I needed.” He looked back up at Sheppard. “That’s why I wanted to be the alchemist of the Summer Court so badly. Why I wanted to stay in the position.”

“What about going to the Unseelie?” Sheppard asked. “I’m sure you would fit in better there.”

“What because I’m some sort of monster where the Summer Court is mostly fae?” McKay asked bitterly, turning away from Sheppard and biting into the fish again. 

Sheppard steered himself around to face McKay again. “No, I was asking because you haven’t burnt any bridges with them.”

McKay snorted. “That’s where you would be wrong,” he said. “How do you think a mireman got into the Summer Court in the first place? I was looking for protection from the Unseelie. The Fall Queen is unforgiving when it comes to mistakes.”

“Elizabeth is unforgiving?” Sheppard asked, confused. She had seemed rather fair to him when he had dealt with her in the past. Just wanting to do what was best for her territory.

“Who is Elizabeth?” McKay asked blankly. 

“She’s been the Fall Queen for some 15 years now,” Sheppard explained. “Which is, now that I’ve said it, about as long as you’ve apparently been out here.”

“There’s a new Fall Queen and no one thought to tell me?” McKay spluttered, almost dropping his food.

“I mean,” Sheppard said, waving his hands to gesture at what was around them. “You’ve been out here the entire time she’s been reigning.”

“That’s a good point,” McKay allowed. “Maybe I can try to get in her good graces and get myself a position as an alchemist again,” he mused, staring off into the distance for a moment before snapping his gaze back to Sheppard.

He nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

McKay took another bite of his food before ducking abruptly below the surface of the water.

Sheppard cocked his head but otherwise did nothing. There were air bubbles rising and the water was moving so McKay was likely fine.

McKay eventually surfaced and scrubbed his hands vigorously below the water. “Can’t stand the feeling of dirty hands,” he explained at Sheppard’s look. “Was basically beaten into me during my training as an alchemist— don’t want to cross-contaminate projects.”

Sheppard nodded. “Makes sense,” he said. He glanced at the sky to gauge the time and grimaced. “I have to go soon, else someone will notice that I’m gone.”

McKay’s face fell and he looked down at the water. “I guess this is goodbye then?” He asked, voice small.

“I mean, for tonight, yeah,” Sheppard drawled. “But I should be able to come back tomorrow night or the night after.”

The corner of McKay’s ticked up into a tentative smile. “Then… I expect to see you,” he said, hope in his voice. “Soon.”

Sheppard nodded and started fluttering higher, dropping out of his seated position as he rose. “See you soon, McKay,” he said, and flew off, not letting himself look back.

* * *

When he woke up the next morning he knew he wouldn't be able to see McKay. There was a page at his door when he blearily walked towards the knocking at his door and the expression on their face wasn’t a good one.

“Shit,” he said, under his breath. “What does the queen need?” He asked, scratching the middle of his bare chest.

The page narrowed their eyes and curled up their mouth in disgust. “An audience with the esteemed guard and hunter Sheppard is all she needs at the moment— I am unaware of anything that may pertain to the meeting.”

Sheppard rolled his eyes. All these damn people obsessed with presence and stature when the world was changing all the time around them.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said, and closed the door.

He let his head fall forward until his forehead met the cool wood. He had only wanted to… _borrow_ some more food from the kitchens and take it to McKay. He was hoping that filling food would hold off what was making him look so tired.

He sighed and moved away from the door. There was nothing for it. McKay would have to unfortunately wait and he would see him the next day anyway. He pulled on a tunic and traded his sleep pants for breeches that ended just below his knees. Wouldn’t do to get yelled at by the queen for not wearing traditional clothes. He didn’t bother with socks or shoes— he didn’t care about getting yelled at that much and he wouldn’t be walking around her anyway. The stupid raised platform that she sat on was so high that no one could really walk up to it and talk to her. There were fae that acted as “translators” for god sake, who relayed what the queen said for those that couldn’t fly.

He flew out of his room, closing the door with magic, and streamlined his body to get to the throne room faster. Wouldn’t do to be late.

He flew through halls, taking turns faster than he should, and rose into the cavernous space of the throne room until he was a respectable distance from Qetesh, but still eye level with her. She really hated when he did that, but he wasn’t afraid of what she could do to him. He had trained most of her guardsmen after all.

“Oh, Queen Qetesh, what do you require of mine skills?” He asked, laying the accented version of his speech on thick.

She glared at him before speaking. “I need you to infiltrate the Winter Court and find out what King O’Neil is doing for the Spring Equinox. If he plans to attack when we are almost but not quite at our strongest once more, I need to know.”

Sheppard tensed. This would be something that took far longer than just a day. “Are you… _sure_ you want to entrust something so delicate to the likes of me?” He asked, trying to weasel out of it already.

“I would entrust it to no other,” she replied with a saccharine smile. “You are the best guardsman in the Court.”

“But I am no spy,” he retorted, faking a smile and shaking his head. “I wouldn’t get the information you wanted.”

Qetesh’s expression darkened. “You will get the information I need and you will do it in a timely fashion.”

Sheppard grit his teeth and nodded, not caring that it was against etiquette. Qetesh was a dictator and he would treat her as such.

He flew back down to the floor and touched down, walking across the stone floors towards his room.

It looked like he needed to pack.

* * *

Packing was a simple affair. He took his warmest set of clothes and put them in his pack, along with some scrolls for writing his report. He wouldn’t need food if he infiltrated the Court correctly and he wouldn’t be staying long. 

At least, he hoped he wouldn’t be.

He detoured on his way to the cold, wintery lands of the Winter Court to the bog where McKay lived. 

He found McKay digging a new hole in the soft ground on the north edge of the bog, taking care to line it with peat and moss. 

“McKay,” he said softly, trying to catch his attention.

McKay’s head whipped around, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise, before he alighted on Sheppard and smiled. “You’re early,” he commented, standing up and dusting off his hands.

Sheppard smiled sadly. “Yeah, but I won’t be able to visit for a while. Hopefully two weeks tops, but— it could be longer.”

McKay’s face fell again and Sheppard wanted to stop that from happening ever again. “It’s too far to visit again?”

Sheppard looked down at the water and nodded. “I’m going to the Winter Court to spy for Qetesh.”

McKay shook his head. “She’s trying to see if O’Neil is going to attack again, isn’t she?”

Sheppard nodded again.

“She did this every year that I was an alchemist in the Summer Court, and she hasn’t let it go, even with the treaty in place.” McKay rolled his eyes. “You’d be better off taking that gold I pointed out to you and hiding in the Fall Court, if it’s better than it was before.”

Sheppard’s mouth twitched into a small smile. “I’ll do that next time.”

“If you get caught, there won’t be next time,” McKay pointed out.

“I won’t get caught,” Sheppard said. “I’m a better fighter than you would expect.”

“I’m not worried about your fight, I’m worried about your spying.” McKay looked down at the hole he was digging and continued, “I don’t want the Winter Court to find a convenient hole to drop you in and never hear from you again.”

Sheppard dropped down to the ground next to McKay and laid his hand on his shoulder. “I promise I’ll be back.”

“But what if you get caught?” He asked, torn.

“I won’t.” Sheppard bit his lip. “I’ll try to send you some sort of message a week from now, alright?”

McKay sighed but nodded. “That’s too long for something to happen but… I guess I can wait that long.”

Sheppard lifted off the ground, hand slowly leaving McKay’s shoulder. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, alright?”

McKay nodded. When Sheppard glanced back as he was flying away, he was still staring after him.

* * *

The message was sent via sprite. They were more intelligent than birds, but just barely. The important thing was that they could read maps and had a seemingly eidetic memory. It said, “Mission going well, should be done within another week. See you then.” He didn’t dare send anything more than that.

Worryingly though, was how well the mission was going. They had seemingly accepted a defecting Summer fae with no trouble. Was Qetesh seen as a dictator across the Courts? Apparently.

There was seemingly no inclination on O’Neil’s part to invade the Summer Kingdom at the Spring Equinox. This was, of course, when Winter Court would hand over the reigns of the mortal world and lose all the power they had accumulated over the year. It was a perilous time of year for any of the courts, when one court handed over the reigns to another court. It was usually a time rife with blood and warfare. Summer and Winter had made a treaty to not attack one another during any of the exchanges, but Qetesh was paranoid. And Winter Kings had a habit of attacking at the peak of their power, just before they passed power over to the next kingdom.

As soon as he could, Sheppard started making the motions of a fae leaving for another court again and he thought to himself that it would be a rather good idea to truly leave the Summer Court and go to the Fall Court. He might not fit in with his looks but with Elizabeth in charge surely he could get along in terms of personality.

He got away faster than he had planned and decided that Qetesh could wait. He took some food from a mortal market, leaving a few scrapings of gold in its place and took off for McKay’s bog. It would be a pleasure to see him after so long.

He flew as fast as he could and soon he could see the telltale gatherings of evergreens, orchids, pitcher plants, and sundews. How such different plants could reside in the same temperate environment he didn’t know, but assumed it had to do with the magic that all monsters and fae inherently had.

He hovered around the bog, searching for McKay again and found him digging another hole, this time on the south edge of the bog. It was still within the border of the bog, like the other one, and again he was lining it with peat and moss, a few flowers thrown in this time.

“McKay!” He called, landing on the less soggy side of the hole. 

His head snapped up and he looked wildly around for a second before seeing Sheppard. His hand had flown up to his chest and he took a deep breath in before speaking. “Jesus, you scared me.”

Sheppard smirked and cocked his hip out, leaning his hand against it. “I mean, if you live out somewhere this remote you’re asking for it.”

“I didn’t plan on coming back here, which is why it’s in such disrepair, thank you.”

“That’s also why I found you sleeping on the job, right?” Sheppard asked, grinning, tongue peeking out between his teeth.

“I was magically exhausted,” McKay explained primly. “Reviving this place to it’s former glory takes work, you know.”

“Bogs have glory?” Sheppard asked.

“All climes and biomes have glory, but bogs are the best of course.” McKay went back to lining the pit with scattered petals before standing and wading into the bog a short distance from where they were. He then set about dragging— something into the pit.

“Is that a body?” Sheppard asked, curious. He had of course seen dead mortals before, but none that looked like this.

“One that got left in the bog before I got back,” McKay responded, panting in exertion. “Could use some help with the waterlogged corpse, you know.”

Sheppard rolled his eyes but went to grab the feet of the body and help him. The skin felt a bit like leather in a kinda weird way. 

“What are you doing, anyway?” He asked. 

_“We_ are ensuring that nothing happens to the bog when I leave through some magical rituals that need to be done every hundred or so years, but haven't been done in quite some time.”

“And why haven’t they been done?” Sheppard asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” McKay said, rolling his eyes. “Maybe it’s because no miremen wanted to come to a bog this far out in the middle of nowhere, where there aren’t any Unseelie fae to protect their brethren.”

“Has this always been your bog then?” Sheppard asked as they laid the body semi-delicately in the hole, McKay stopping to arrange it to his specifications before standing.

“I took control of it from my grandmother,” he said, dusting his hands off before glancing at them in disgust and crouching to scrub at them in the water.

“Did she die?” Sheppard asked. “I’m sorry.”

McKay snorted. “Like she’d ever do that. She plans to outlive the Courts and laugh while she does it.”

“Is she the one who brought all the tropical plants here?”

McKay looked edgy for a moment. “What? Is gardening not a manly enough activity for you?”

Sheppard raised his hands in mock surrender, leaning back a bit. “It’s a perfectly masculine activity, I just didn’t expect you to bring in orchids.”

McKay sniffed. “They actually thrive in acidic soil, I’ll have you know.”

Sheppard lowered his hands. “Well I do now.” He tucked his thumbs into the waistband of his pants and leaned back on his heels. “What other plants do well out here in bogland?”

And that’s what they talked about for the rest of the night. Plants and herbal remedies and conversation eventually meandered to the family they actually liked and why they liked them. McKay’s grandmother had in fact brought McKay the first orchid— a sympodial one, McKay proudly said, which Sheppard had no idea what it meant— that now grew up the trunk of a long dead deciduous tree that had never rotted in the bog environment that had killed it.

McKay was very proud of the housewarming (?) gift that his grandmother had gotten him while he was settling in. It was doing very well.

Sheppard listened to it all as McKay talked about everything and anything, small nuggets of importance shining through and he couldn't help but reply in turn. He didn’t know how they found themselves lost in conversation, but they were and it was—

_Good._

They’d known each other for such a short time, even shorter when their life spans were taken into account and yet— Sheppard knew he wanted to spend more time with him. Talk more. Discover more.

He wanted more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please,,, comment,,, tell me your fave monster or creature or myth, i wanna gush w you. also. bog mummies. they are so cool, arent they????  
> edit: my stargate research was faulty and I didn't know vala was a different character from her... evil counterpart, thought they had the same name, so the evil summer queen is now qetesh!


	2. Nothing Fucks With My Baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its,,, finally here,,, omg

There wasn’t much to tell Qetesh when he got back.

He came, he saw, he conquered, as the humans were fond of saying.

And then she let him go, just like that.

He didn’t look that gift horse in the mouth and flew off for McKay’s bog as soon as he could. When he got there though…

When he got there it was like nothing he had seen before.

There were flowers everywhere, trees had grown six feet or more at least since the night before and McKay was nowhere to be seen. Sheppard had to have flown over the bog in overlapping patterns at least five times before he finally gave up and alighted on the branches of a tree and looked towards the horizon. If he concentrated, he could just make out the spires of the Fall Courts castle, and wasn’t that just something?

Then he saw it— well, heard it. But the noise _ was  _ coming from a large area covered in plants.

It was a weird lowing sound from within a tangle of creepers and flowers. He jumped out of the tree and landed in a low crouch and crept towards the bushes. When he got there, he pushed aside the leaves, only to find McKay there, curled into the fetal position like he had been when he first found him.

Instantly he dropped to his knees beside him and took in what McKay had become overnight.

He looked— emaciated. Literally only skin and bones. He was sallow and gaunt, dark rings under his eyes— he looked horrible. 

He reached out and gently touched his shoulder. “McKay?” He asked. “You’re probably gonna hate me for asking this, but are you okay?”

“No,” McKay moaned, opening his eyes and staring at Sheppard pitifully. “I used up too much magic trying to boost the bog’s growth.” He sighed. “This is the result.”

“McKay, you— you need help, someone at the Summer Court has to know what to—” 

“No,” McKay said sharply, interrupting him. “Qetesh would kill me sooner than let Carson help me.”

“McKay, I can’t just—  _ leave  _ you here,” Sheppard said. “What kind of person do you think I am?”

“I’m not exactly suggesting that, but I don’t see another solution.” McKay shook his head. “There’s nothing to do.”

Sheppard thought about it for a moment and then spoke. “We could… go to the Fall Court?” He gained momentum as the idea grew in his head. “Elizabeth is fair, and I doubt she would turn away someone like me, who could give a tactical advantage for the court. I could give her information in return for taking care of you.”

“Sheppard,” McKay said, his tone a negative one, but there was a shy ray of hope in his red eyes. 

“Please, McKay, let me help,” Sheppard begged, hand gripping his shoulder tightly now.

McKay closed his eyes and nodded. “Fine.  _ But. _ If Elizabeth turns us away, then you need to bring me back here, promise me.”

At this point, Sheppard would swear his wings away if it helped McKay. “I promise,” he said and scooped McKay up into his arms.

He was as unresisting as a child, light as a feather, and it was disconcerting how he just let it happen, no commenting to be heard.

That worried Sheppard more than anything else.

It took almost no extra strength to launch himself in the air with McKay in his arms and he was soon on his way to the Fall Court’s castle. 

***

It had taken some convincing, holding a silent McKay all the while, but eventually, the guards had allowed Sheppard an audience with Elizabeth, where he pled his case. A small looking McKay helped his endeavors, and they were guided by yet more guards to the court alchemist’s rooms, where they were met with a no-nonsense Fae woman named Keller. 

McKay stiffened in his arms for a moment then relaxed tellingly. Either he was in pain and hiding it or he knew Keller. Sheppard actually decided to bet on both and had words with Keller about getting a bed for McKay to rest in while she looked him over.

She rolled her eyes but dragged a pallet over from the side of the room and transfigured it into something that was as tall as their waists but barely long enough to hold someone comfortably. 

It would have to do.

Sheppard laid McKay down and then stood there uselessly, not knowing what to do now. He was tempted to drag a chair from the nearby table and camp out at McKay’s side but he didn’t know how Keller would take that.

Then again, he cared about McKay and not Keller, so he did it anyway, despite the glare Keller threw at him.

It took some time, some off-tune humming on the part of Keller, and some hand-holding between McKay and himself before there was a verdict. The hand holding hadn’t been planned, but Sheppard’s hands had been resting on the bed thing and when Keller did something that hurt McKay, his hand jerked out and clamped onto Sheppard’s. He hadn’t the heart— nor the want, really— to claim his hand back, so there it had stayed. If Sheppard had dropped a kiss or two on his fingers in the meantime and stroked his hand to comfort him, then that was between him and McKay.

But. The verdict.

It wasn’t a good one.

“McKay, the bog that’s connected to you is taking away too much of your energy without you taking energy supplements, surely you know that,” Keller said when she was done.

“Yes, I know,” McKay snapped. “That’s why I did some rituals to help support the bog without using me so heavily. I just— didn’t have anywhere else to get the supplements.”

“What were the rituals?” Keller asked, walking across the room and digging through a pile of books.

“Your basic ones. Amddiffyn, adref, cadwraeth, those types of things. And yes, for cadwraeth I used resources that could be found in the bog.” McKay sighed. “I  _ was _ a court alchemist just like you for quite a while, I know what I’m doing.”

Keller paged through the book she had selected and finally nodded. “Looks like you were. Did you use fresh bodies for amddiffyn or bog mummies?”

“Bog mummies, of course, do you think I’m some sort of amateur?” McKay scoffed. “Fresh bodies, can you believe her, Sheppard?”

Sheppard started at being addressed. “I have no idea what’s going on, don’t involve me.”

“You literally helped me with it.” McKay looked at him like he was stupid. Which he kind of felt like he was.

“Oh,” Sheppard said, remembering the body burying thing. “I do recall that now, thank you. I just didn’t know they had names.”

“Why wouldn’t a magical ritual have a name?” Keller interjected. “Names give all things power, this is basic Fae business.”

Sheppard threw half a glare at her. “Duh. I just don’t do many magical rituals. Don’t have a need for them.”

Keller rolled her eyes but went back to her reading.

McKay squeezed his hand. “Don’t listen to her, she’s just mad we interrupted her latest experiment.”

“There’s an experiment going on?” To Sheppard, the entire room looked like an incomprehensible mess. Nothing like what McKay described as a stable and clean environment.

McKay nodded. “Not everyone prescribes to the same procedures I do. See it as superstitious.”

Sheppard only raised an eyebrow at this.

“Yeah, I know,” McKay said. “Funny being superstitious when we’re all basically magical beings.”

Keller came back over to them and interrupted their discussion. “Well, you’re magically exhausted as we know. The best chance for your continued survival is to drink the life potions you were making while at the Summer Court and to rest.”

“You really had to take the life out of the party, didn't you?” McKay asked bitterly. “Who will take care of my bog while I’m resting here and taking those potions? Miremen are a dying breed.”

“I’m sure you could find someone willing.”

“With the innate nature magic needed?” McKay snorted. “Unlikely.”

”Not possessing of the magic, just willing,” Keller explained, sighing. “You won't be out of commission for that long if it makes you feel better. But you will have to continue taking the life potions for the foreseeable future. Until you pass down the bog to someone else, at the very least.”

“Like I’ll ever have anyone to do that to,” McKay muttered. 

Keller tutted. “You still have some centuries left in you yet. And I’m sure a pretty fairy will come along someday.”

McKay raised a brow. “That’s not how mireman genealogy works. That’s just not. No.”

Sheppard cocked his head. “How does it work then?”

“You find a bog mummy in good condition, preferably a newer one, one that still has a spark of life, and reanimate it,” McKay said. “My grandmother refused to agree to pass her bog down until my mother had offspring, and I was there, so she used me.” He smiled. “Next thing she knew, Grandmother was handing me control of the bog, completely skipping my mother.” He shrugged. “She wasn’t really that good at taking care of things.”

Sheppard just stared at him.

"You know how horrible that sounds, right?" He asked.

McKay shrugged again under his horrified gaze. "Doesn't change what happened."

He gave a quick squeeze to McKay's hand and got a quick squeeze back.

"Hate to break up the tender moment, but," Keller said, absolutely gleeful at breaking up the mushy moment, "you really need to find someone to take care of the bog for at least a couple of months, McKay."

Sheppard didn't really know what to do so he just stared at McKay. “What do you want to do, McKay?”

“I thought it would have been obvious,” McKay said. He squeezed Sheppard’s hand once more. “I wouldn’t trust it with anyone but you, Sheppard.”

He was touched, really, he was but…

“McKay, I have no idea how to take care of a bog.”

McKay shook his head. “All you really need to do is make sure nothing dies in it and throws off the pH. Make sure no one throws any random dead things in and it will all be fine.”

Sheppard nodded slowly. “If you say so.”

“I do.” McKay nodded shortly, and then glanced towards Keller. “Is that good enough?”

She snorted. “It’ll have to be.”

***

Sheppard may have possibly not know what he was getting into when he agreed to bog-sitting.

Plus the place wasn’t half as interesting without McKay there. The plants were just plants, not living things that interacted with McKay’s magic whenever he was near. He wasn’t able to tell what the pH of the water was without the little strips of paper that changed color when dipped into water. 

It was lonely, without McKay’s noise to accompany him wherever he went. And his visiting hours that were significantly less lonely were limited to only two hours, four times a week.

Both he and McKay were borderline mutinous about it, but at the same time, McKay seemed ready to accept it, happy even.

It… hadn’t escaped Sheppard’s notice that Keller was beautiful in a way that most fae weren’t. She was soft where most were sharp, steady in a way that most fae eschewed for want of flying. He still had the feeling that she had sharp teeth behind her rare, close-lipped smiles though.

The thing was— the thing  _ was, _ McKay didn’t seem to care or hadn’t noticed, and Sheppard didn’t know which was worse. 

He thought on all this as he sat at the top of a tree in the middle of the bog, the better to see anything or anyone approaching the area.

Sheppard didn’t really think anything was going to approach, but he had promised McKay and he intended to keep it.

It was the least he could do for the only person he really had on his side now. The person he lo— liked most out of everyone. It was just a favor. Nothing else.

***

“And what she’s doing with proto-alchemy, it’s just amazing, did I tell you about her most recent experiments?” McKay said, words running into each other in his excitement.

This had been happening more frequently, Sheppard had found. And it was maddening. All McKay could talk about was the happenings of the Fall Court and what Keller had been up to. After Sheppard’s report of what had been going on in the bog since his last visit, McKay would launch into his own recounting of events and the surliness of his voice wouldn’t lay a single finger on anything about Keller.

Sheppard had started to hate her, at least a little bit, for it.

“Yeah, you told me about them last week,” Sheppard said, staring at his hands in his lap. Their ritual of holding hands had fallen off since Keller had spotted them doing it and laughed, causing McKay to blush, and he was quick to drop the offending appendage. His hands hadn’t stopped feeling cold since then.

McKay deflated slightly. “Oh.” There was an awkward pause. “Have I told you about what ideas they may have given me?”

Sheppard shook his head and sighed to himself. He didn’t necessarily want to listen to McKay wax poetic about the wondrous things that Keller was doing but he would if it made McKay happy.

“When we go back to the bog—” 

Sheppard glanced up sharply at McKay. “When  _ we _ go back? You’re not— not staying or something?”

McKay gave him a look. “Why on earth would I stay? They don’t necessarily trust you and I certainly don’t trust them. What on earth makes you think I wouldn’t want to go back with you?”

Sheppard looked away for a moment and then back. “Well, you have your— condition now, and Keller—”

“Pssh,” McKay scoffed. “Keller would rather kill me. I only want her for her alchemy. And she promised to make the potions for me as long as I don’t piss her off too much.” He smiled softly at Sheppard. “I’ve got something to look forward to now, so I’ve been on my best behavior.”

That— okay, that explained a lot of things, actually. Except—

“Then…” Sheppard paused and swallowed nervously. “Why did we stop, you know, holding hands?” His voice had progressively gotten smaller and softer and he looked down at the bed McKay was still laying on.

McKay’s hand suddenly appeared there, palm up, as if he had been waiting the entire time for Sheppard to ask about it. 

“Keller had been teasing me about it and I didn’t want you to get embarrassed either,” McKay said, wiggling his fingers. “You were the one who didn’t do it anymore after that.”

Sheppard tentatively laid his hand on top of McKay’s and watched as they seemed to magically intertwine, with no command from his own mind.

“Do you know when Keller is letting you out?” He asked, still staring at their joined hands.

“Within the next few days was what she last said,” McKay replied.

“Good, that’s good,” Sheppard said, trailing off as he went. It had been bothering him for days, and while he had been mostly assured a few moments ago, it was still bugging him.

“You don’t, like,  _ like _ Keller do you?” He asked, voice small. 

“Like her?” McKay asked. “Of course I like her, she’s ahead of almost everyone else in the field of alchemy and she saved my life. Attitude aside, yes I like her.” McKay gave him a look. “But you want to know if I love her, don’t you?”

Sheppard could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks, but he refused to believe that he was actually blushing.

McKay continued, ignoring his expression. “To which I must answer I do not, as I’ve been nursing a bit of a crush on someone else for a while now.” And then he gave him another look. 

Which… Sheppard had no idea what that meant. 

He decided to hazard a guess. “Is it Qetesh? Which like, really far out of your league, man,” he said, with a fake half-smile plastered across his face.

“No, you idiot,” McKay said, scoffing.

“A human?” He hadn’t thought that McKay would go for dumb and naive, but he had done more surprising things. 

“God, I thought you were smarter than this.” McKay sighed. “It’s you, dumbass.”

To say that Sheppard was surprised was an understatement. Sure he could lure a human to their death with the best of them given his looks and human’s propensity for following pretty things but that was all he was— pretty. He wasn’t beautiful or smart or— or anything that McKay had ever seemed interested in.

“Are you sure?” Sheppard asked, wide-eyed and stunned.

McKay hefted their hands into the air. “I wouldn’t hold hands with any idiot, now would I? I know what I want.”

The corner of Sheppard’s mouth quirked up. “You do have a point there.”

McKay sniffed haughtily. “Yes, yes I do.”

***

Later,  _ much  _ later, Sheppard would beat himself up over his idiocy. Really, McKay had been laying out hints for… a  _ while _ now, if he was being honest with himself. But…

If it meant that they got to kiss now, absolutely sure of themselves and their feelings then, well, he was satisfied. He was free to fly wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and he could bring all the gifts he wanted back to McKay. He got to fall asleep at McKay’s side. 

It was all he wanted from life for now and he couldn’t wait to continue doing it for years to come. They would get bored with living with only each other for company in a bog of all places but until then—

Until then, they had each other and that was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment and kudos i will die for you if you do


End file.
